Virginia graduation rate rises to 88 percent

An Achievable Dream once again graduates 100 percent of its students

Virginia's high school Class of 2012 beat their peers of 2011, posting an 88 percent four-year graduation rate, up from 86.6 percent a year ago.

The state's dropout rate fell to 6.5 percent, down from 7.2 percent in 2011.

For the second year in a row, 100 percent of An Achievable Dream Middle and High School's Class of 2012 graduated. Of the 39 students who graduated, 38 earned advanced diplomas. The school's dropout rate was zero.

The state released the annual graduation and dropout rates on Tuesday for 323 public high schools with a combined senior class of 97,023 students. Of them, 85,359 graduated four years after they entered high school as freshmen.

At the district level, Mathews County, Poquoson, Williamsburg-James City County and York County posted higher graduation rates than the state, joining 62 other divisions statewide. Mathews had the highest on-time graduation rate, at 97.9 percent. Poquoson's was 94.1 percent, WJCC's was 88.7 percent and York's was 94.2 percent. No local district posted a rate lower than 82 percent.

The on-time graduation rate shows the percentage of students whose high school career spans four years from freshman to senior. The rate allows for students transferring in and out of schools during that time. The state began tracking on-time graduation five years ago.

Students who are allowed by federal and state laws to take longer than four years to earn a high school diploma – those with disabilities or those who are learning English for the first time – are counted in the on-time rate.

Poquoson had the lowest dropout rate of the local divisions, at 1 percent. Surry County posted the highest local dropout rate, with 10.3 percent, but fewer than 10 students left the school. The division's senior class had only 68 students. The area's two largest divisions, Newport News and Hampton, posted dropout rates of 6.1 percent and 5.2 percent respectively. Newport News' senior class included 2,261 students, and Hampton's was 1,831 students.

Graduation and dropout rates are considers indicators of a school's quality and performance. State and federal education laws use the rates as measures of academic achievement. The state includes graduation as a part of its accreditation formulas.

Virginia considers students dropouts if they withdrew and did not re-enroll as their classmates move through their four years of high school, if they did not graduate from high school or complete a state- or district-approved graduation program by August 2012 or if they did not meet the criteria for exception: such as a transfer, illness, suspension or death.

Newport News

An Achievable Dream Middle and High School topped the division, with a 100 percent graduation rate and no dropouts.

Denbigh High School had an 80 percent graduation rate and an 8 percent dropout rate, counting 32 students as dropouts. The school's Asian students had the highest graduation rate, 90.5 percent, while its homeless students posted a 50 percent graduation rate.

Heritage High School had a 77.9 percent graduation rate and a 6.4 percent dropout rate, with 24 students considered dropouts. Homeless students posted the highest graduation rate, 84.6 percent, and special education students had the lowest, 59.2 percent.

Menchville posted an 82.9 percent graduation rate, and a 6.2 percent dropout rate, with 31 students classified as dropouts. The school's Asian students had a 100 percent graduation rate, while homeless students had the lowest rate, 57.1 percent.

Warwick High School had a 77.1 percent graduation rate, and a 39 percent dropout rate, counting 39 students as dropouts. Girls had the highest graduation rate, 84.3 percent, while special education students had the lowest, 65.6 percent.

Woodside was Newport News' largest senior class, with 516 students. It posted a 92.4 percent graduation rate and a 2.5 percent dropout rate. The number of dropouts was too small to include in statistics. Girls had the highest graduation rate, 94.1 percent, while low-income students had the lowest rate, 88.1 percent.

Hampton

Hampton High School, once labeled a dropout factory, posted a higher graduation rate, 88.4 percent, than the state average, and the highest in its division. Within the school, Asian students had a 100 percent graduation rate. Hispanic students posted the lowest rate, 71.4 percent. The school's dropout rate was 3.8 percent, with 17 students counted as dropouts.